


Prelude to Bonding Moments

by Blitzpie



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff, Gen, Getting Together, M/M, POV Alternating, Progressively longer chapters, Slow Burn, eventually lol, except they aren't really enemies lol, i want them to be real friends first, this is set in the early seasons btw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:28:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23720842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blitzpie/pseuds/Blitzpie
Summary: They don't really get along at first but as time in space passes there are plenty of moments to bond.Keith and Lance gradually getting to know each other, becoming genuine friends and being cute.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 23





	1. Dinner

**Author's Note:**

> Writing this as a gift for one of my best buds, this doesn't delve into that many serious plot issues because i never finished voltron lol. Hope it's enjoyable anyway

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this as a gift for one of my best friends <3
> 
> To everyone else I hope you enjoy it, it's pretty simple and any angst is purely to build up for fluff late. Doesn't delve into any big Voltron plot moments either because this ain't about that lmao.

Nobody had fully adjusted to life on the ship yet, it’s only been a week and Keith’s had to come to grips that aliens are real (He already knew), and that there’s a giant intergalactic space war happening and he is now one of the soldiers in that war. Needless to say it’s a lot to take in.

He has Shiro back which is nice, but living with 6 other people after being alone for so long is pretty grating. Especially since they have these stupid mandatory group meals and Lance seems determined to piss him off.

Lance reaches over and stabs a piece of fruit right as Keith attempts to take the same piece. Instantly Keith turns to glare at him, “What do you think you’re doing?”

Shoving the piece of fruit into his mouth, Lance glares right back, “Uh, eating obviously.”

Keith slams his fist, fork in hand on the table, “Well, obviously I was about to take that piece” 

“Yeah well maybe you should be faster next time” Lance says as he reaches his fork out to grab a piece of some green ham. Before he can even lift his fork up again, Keith slams his fork into the same piece of meat, and tears it away from Lance.

From the other side of the table Hunk watches their squabbling nervously, “Uh, guys-”

“Is that fast enough for you?” Keith says, ripping the piece of meat from Lance’s fork, sending it flying off the table. The other paladins all share concerned glances over the escalation of this issue, Pidge gives Hunk a slight nudge with her arm. He sighs and straightens his posture clearing his throat.

Keith and Lance glare at each other with even more ferocity as Hunk leans forward, attempting to have a placating aura, “Guys I really think we all just need to calm down, there’s plenty of food for everyone after all...”

Not taking his eyes off of Keith, Lance responds, “Oh not to worry Hunky ol’ buddy, i am perfectly calm,” Looking back at his own plate he gets a spoonful of space peas, “I mean if I wasn’t perfectly calm could I do this?” Without looking Lance slings his arm holding the spoon back, launching the peas directly into Keith’s face.

Keith instantly shoots up and goes to dump his entire plate onto Lance’s head. As he starts to tilt the plate, Shiro sighs at the other end of the table and Allura gets increasingly annoyed at the immaturity being displayed.

She stands up, slamming her hands onto the table and giving the boys a glare of her own, “That is quite enough. You are paladins of Voltron, protectors of the universe destined to bring peace to all, and yet you cannot even manage to bring peace to a single meal! Now sit down, finish your food, and when we are done you two will be cleaning up this mess!” She huffs as she sits down, 

The two boys let out guilty huffs and slump back into their seats simultaneously, both muttering hollow apologies. With the two of them alone the clean-up was silent, the only sounds coming from the spray of disinfectant and squeaking of cleaning rags against the dinner surface. Keith was still seething, and Lance just looked annoyed. Honestly, Keith didn’t understand why he had to be punished when he wasn’t the one who instigated it. 

“I don’t understand why I have to be punished because of you behaving like a child” He huffed.

“Excuse me? I seem to recall you being the one to start the fight” 

“There would have been nothing to start if you weren’t trying to take my food!”

“I didn’t realize that every piece of fruit belonged to you, there were plenty of other pieces on the table”

“That’s besides the point and you know it! Everything you do just grates on my nerves, it’s like you’re trying to be as obnoxious as possible!”

“You think my life revolves around you? Maybe I’m just trying to adjust to the fact that my entire life was just uprooted and now I'm expected to fight aliens until I die”

“Everybody on this ship is dealing with the same shit, just because you’re too weak to handle what everyone else can doesn’t give you some sort of special pass”

Lance’s eyes hardened at that comment and he turned his glare to the table, “Well, sorry i'm such a pathetic mess. Let’s just finish this stupid work so you don’t need to be subjected to my presence”

“For once, I agree with you”

Keith and Lance both left the room seething, Lance stomping off to his room and Keith immediately heading to the training deck to blow off some steam. Neither one of them looked back as they went their separate ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are gonna be time skips after each chap btw, should be clear I hope


	2. Small Battle

“Lance! Hurry up and take out the turrets!” Keith yells, as he slices through another enemy soldier, only for more and more to come at him.

“It’s not exactly easy when a certain someone keeps alerting more guards to our presence on this stealth mission” Lance grits out through the comms, positioned near the entrance of the enemy base, taking out as many soldiers as he can from a distance. “Y’know, this would’ve been much easier if say, Pidge, someone with a brain, came with me”

“Shut up! At least I’ve actually managed to infiltrate into the base, how are we supposed to get any data if we can’t even get through a few soldiers?!”

As Keith slices and takes out the enemy in front of him, turning to retaliate against another soldier, a shot whizzes out and takes him out before he manages to land a hit on Keith. 

“Okay hotshot, tell me again how well you’re infiltrating the base all by yourself” 

“Shut up! You nearly killed me there, why don’t you focus on the dozens of other guys” Keith grunts out as he works his way through the soldiers that are continuing to surround him.

“Maybe next time you should thank the guy who just saved your life” 

“I can handle myself” 

“Whatever, keep the guards busy while I actually go complete the mission then” Lance had no hesitation with rushing off to find the base’s headquarters whilst Keith took on the brunt of the force stationed there.  
Keith let his mind go blank as he slashed and stabbed and fought with all his might. There were the distant sounds of shooting and a loud ‘fuck yeah’ which Keith took to mean Lance had actually managed to get Galran information on his own. Very quickly, the sound of running grew near and Lance was returning with far more soldiers speeding after him.

“C’mon mullet! No time to waste,” Firing off shots at the enemies in front of Keith clearing a path for him to run through. 

Giving a powerful slash to knock down the soldiers in front of him, he turned to run after Lance, “Did you have to bring the whole base with you?”

“Didn’t you say you could handle yourself? What’s a few more guys to big bad Keith,” Lance yelled over with a sharp grin, “They were already coming anyway, there were these loud obnoxious fighting noises coming from the landing bay”

“Oh ha ha, let’s just get back to the lions before something goes horribly wrong”

There were no shared glances as they ran back to their lions together, only the shared sense of victory in one small moment.


	3. Training..?

“Alright Paladins, I recognize that all of you have come a very far way in forging your bonds compared to the early days of our quest, but there is still more to be done. If we are to unlock all the secrets of Voltron then it is essential that you all can genuinely trust each other with your lives”

Standing before them all like this, Allura exuded an air of leadership that made it difficult to deny any of her requests. That didn’t stop the wave of groans that elicited from the paladins however. It didn’t take them long to realize that more often than not, Allura’s ‘bonding time’ was more grueling than their physical training.

Shiro spoke up for the rest of the paladins, not letting any sign of unease or discomfort into his voice, “What did you have in mind?”

“Coran and I have been searching the records for methods to integrate you all into a perfectly balanced team, and I believe we have found something perfect,” she clapped her hands together and gave the paladins a smile.

Coran stepped in with his own bright smile, “ I found this in an Earth ‘ice-breaker’ list, it’s called the Human Knot,” Lance and Hunk exchanged looks, “It’s quite simple in comparison to the activities we’ve attempted before and I think something simple is just the thing to bring out the best in all of you!”

Leaning forward Lance spoke up, “Coran, buddy, I really don’t think the human knot is going to help us magically unlock the secrets of Voltron”

“Yeah,” interjected Hunk, “it’s like a teambuilding exercise for children-”

“And unfortunate office workers”

“If anything it’s more likely to hurt our bonds than to improve them.” 

“Oh! So you’re already experienced with it! That’s excellent news, you and Lance can join Allura and I in a quick demonstration” 

“Um Coran I don’t really think that’s necessary-”

“Nonsense my boy! Now come, come, let us all form a circle,” He pulled Lance to his feet and Hunk let out a disheartened sigh standing on his own. On the sidelines Pidge had an amused grin, no doubt entertained by the series of events unfolding before her. Shiro was largely unfazed and Keith seemed genuinely confused about what was happening.

Slumping back in his chair, Keith watched only mildly intrigued by the fact that Lance and Hunk seemed so distressed by this idea. He glanced at Shiro who was resting his chin on his hand with a mildly weary look on his face, as though he was expecting an accident to happen.

“Alright Paladins pay attention, everyone in the circle uses their right hand to grab another’s,” saying this she reached out her right hand and Lance smiled as he grabbed it, “and use your left hand and grab a different person’s left hand, everybody in the circle does the same until you find yourself entangled. Does everybody understand?” She looked at the rest of the team with sparkling eyes, clearly believing this idea to be absolutely ingenious.

“Princess I think i’m still a little confused,” said Pidge with her most innocent and sincere voice, “could you demonstrate the actual activity?”

“Of course Pidge, it’s really quite simple, you just,” she tugged one of her arms trying to dislodge between Hunk and Coran but only managed to knock them together in the center, “Oh dear, perhaps if I just…” She gave a sharp tug on the other arm, twisting Lance directly into Hunk’s side. 

“Princess, maybe you should say what you’re going to do before you do it,” said Hunk as Lance regained his stance.

“Yeah, as much as I enjoy getting man-handled by a beautiful lady it isn’t really helping out”

Slouched in his chair Keith spoke up, “I don’t see how any of this is going to help, can’t we just spar and work on skills that will actually save our lives.”

Coran popped his head out from the back of the mass, “Now Keith, communication is one the most valuable skills to have on the battlefield. Being able to understand the needs of your fellow soldiers enables you to work togethe-” 

Before he could finish his sentence, Allura let out an impatient huff and tugged on the attached hands quite firmly, slamming Lance and Coran’s heads together. Pidge let out a bark of laughter while Hunk winced in sympathy as they groaned from the sudden collision. 

“Princess I think you demonstrated more than enough,” standing up, he gave some very clear looks to all of the other paladins, “Alright everybody, let’s get this over with.”

“I just received a traumatic head injury from Coran, can I be excused?”

“No, Lance.” 

\----

“Ow! Get your elbow out of my face!”

“Get your face out of my elbow”

“Will you two quit tugging! My arms aren’t as long as yours and my shoulders are very close to dislocating.”

“Hunk, can you try pulling to your left a bit?”

“Uh, sure. Like this?”

“Ouch! Not like that, go back!”

“Shiro we’ve been at this for 15 minutes, can’t we take a break? Hunk’s hand is making mine all sweaty-”

“Sorry Pidge”

“And the Princess doesn’t even care! Her and Coran keep bursting into laughter everytime we mess up, which is everytime we do anything.” Allura and Coran had the decency to look a little guilty at least. Allura gave a slight cough into her fist, and the two of them returned to perfect posture.

“Alright everyone let’s just relax, everyone just take a step back and take a deep breath,” Shiro spoke, gathering the attention to himself, “We just need to approach this from a new angle, instead of focusing on how to get yourself out, why don’t we try focusing on how to unravel each other?”

Pidge gave an analytical glare to the mess of limbs before her, “Yeah, yeah alright,” her eyes dotted from paladin to paladin with a plan forming in her mind, “Keith can you raise both your arms for a sec? OK good... Now Shiro pull Lance towards you and turn inward.”

“Oh hey, I can untangle one of my arms now, Lance I just need you to step over me and Keith for a sec, alright! Nice Pidge!”

“Excellent work, Pidge.”

“Yeah, real nice. Could you do something so i’m not in the middle of this giant mess of arms?” 

“I’ll get there when I get there Lance, I think I can get Hunk’s other arm on the outside though so just stay put. Keith I need you to duck under me and Lance’s arm and move towards the center.”

“Uh, sure…” Keith said, giving Lance an uncertain look as he moved towards him, following Pidge’s command.

“Could you back up a bit, Mullet? You’re getting in my personal space.” They weren’t exactly pressed against each other, but there was already far too much contact happening for Lance to be happy about it.

“There isn’t anywhere else for me to go so just deal with it.” Keith gritted out, Lance had never been more glad for his slight height advantage than in this moment. It was bad enough having to deal with Keith’s chest against his, but if he had to deal with his breath against his face well that’d be… uncomfortable. Looking down at Keith’s averted eyes he almost would’ve thought he looked cute with the fiery look in his eyes. Almost.

“Ok Shiro, I need you to duck under Hunk and me now. Great, Keith and Lance could you two manage to switch places? If you can do that then we’ll be out”

“Switch places? Alright easy, Keith maybe if you just stay still I can uh, squeeze past here…” Making sure the grip of his hands wouldn’t slip, Lance moved one of his shoulders and gave a push against Keith’s side,moving slightly behind him to avoid having to make eye contact. 

“Uh no, not working,” Keith, for his credit, actually managed to look mildly annoyed by this turn of events, “Go back to how you were before and I’ll maneuver out of this,” Lance returned to his original stance with them chest to chest and Keith tried forcing his way through Lance, as if the problem could be solved with more force, “I just gotta, oof… maybe not.”

Lance rolled his eyes as Pidge let out an impatient huff, “Try ducking down, I’m gonna hop over you-”

“What? That sounds like a terrible idea.”

“Relax, Keith I’m the taller one so it makes the most sense.”

“Ugh whatever, you better not fall on me.” Keith made his best effort to lower himself, but that also meant Lance had to deal with his stupid grimy mullet against his chest, and this train of thought is stopping now.

“Yikes, getting a little too close for comfort there… but with just another nudge, Boo-Yeah! We are free!” Letting go of his partners’ hands, Lance threw his arms into the air victoriously. The other paladins all wore their own victorious grins, Shiro seemed proud that there were no last second screw-ups too.

“Superb work, Paladins! I knew you could do it!” 

“Thanks Coran, your constant laughter was the biggest vote of confidence of all.”

“Not a problem at all my dear boy,” he said, giving Lance a firm pat on the back, “Now what do you say about them giving it another go Princess?”

“Excellent idea Coran, perhaps this time they can work on improving their teamwork. You heard me Paladins, time to regroup and go again”

“Again?! But Princess-”

“No buts! While I do admit to being entertained by your incompetence, it took far longer than ideal, not to mention you cannot always expect to be in a situation where one person can carefully provide meticulous instruction. It should be a combination of coordinated movements and implicit commands from every member.”

Lance sighed, folding his hands behind his neck. “Yes, Princess”

Lance could admit to himself that it did take an embarrassingly long time to accomplish a task meant for tweens at summer camp. He didn’t feel particularly helpful either, if it wasn’t for Pidge giving out commands it would’ve taken them ages. Well maybe that’s not true either, Shiro or Hunk would’ve definitely been capable of figuring it out. Keith might’ve been in the same boat as him, but somehow everything always ends up working out for him, even if he messes up Shiro’s still way more supportive of him than he’d ever be for Lance.

As everybody made their way into the circle, Lance outstretched his hands, Hunk taking one with a smile and Keith grabbed the other with a huff. Lance raised an eyebrow at him, “I needed to grab someone’s hand!” Keith huffed out, more than a little defensively. Lance rolled his eyes, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible. 

It started out a little smoother than their previous attempt, Lance only purposely messed with Keith a few times but then realized there was less of a point when any awkward situation he could force Keith in would also involve himself. And if halfway through he realized he didn’t mind the feeling of warmth emanating from Keith’s hand then well, it only gave him more incentive to get this over with as soon as possible. 

Everyone gave out commands, and the group followed to the best of their abilities. Allura and Coran gave many signs of encouragement as people adjusted themselves for movements before they even had to be instructed. Even Lance gave out some instruction, and found himself feeling slightly better at his own small successes. When they completed the knot it took about half of the time of the original go, everybody was feeling more proud about this outcome.

“Good job team,” Shiro said, giving Pidge and Keith a pat on the back, “Princess, what do you think? Could we break for lunch?”

She took a second to think before responding, “That was some incredible improvement, I must commend you all for learning so quickly. I would like to reconvene this evening for some sparring, but for now we will break. Now uh, let’s all be on our way.” Finishing her sentence Allura gave the group an encouraging smile, turned and made her way out. Coran and Shiro followed promptly, Keith gave a quick glance to Lance and the others before hurrying out himself.

Once Allura was outside of earshot the three began to speak, “The Princess let us stop after 2 times. How uncharacteristically generous.” said Pidge.

Lance nodded, “The sparring she has planned later is definitely gonna be hell if she’s having us save our energy.” 

“Yeah I’m not looking forward to it, I still don’t know how I feel about this whole ‘Savior of the Universe’ thing. That’s an insane level of pressure.” Hunk deflated a bit as he spoke. 

“Don’t worry buddy! As long as we got each other’s backs we’ll be fine, besides there’s gotta be good things about that title. Like, endless adoration from the masses, parties thrown in our honor, might even get a few babes along the way.” Lance said, looking off into the distance with an exaggerated look of yearning. “Besides, eventually we’re gonna be able to return home, imagine our families faces when we come back and tell them we saved the whole universe!”

Hunk’s face relaxed and his smile returned so Lance counted that as a win. “Yeah, I guess you’re right Lance. I mean, with the technology of the Lions and the castleship there’s no way we’ll be stuck out here forever.”

Pidge looked a little conflicted for reasons Lance would learn much later involving her own family, but at the moment she agreed for the sake of not ruining Hunk’s positive mood.

As they walked off Lance kept the conversation light and humorous, Pidge interjecting with sarcastic comments, Hunk adding in his own laughs and skepticisms. It was nice, a good distraction from all the festering thoughts in his mind. He was millions, even billions, miles away from Earth with no way to contact his family, being forced to fight in a war he didn’t even know existed just a few months ago. Not to mention the fact one of the people he’s stuck with is Shiro, his childhood luminary, and another is Keith, the guy he considered his rival for who knows how long only to not be remembered at all. It was definitely a source of bitterness for him, it wasn’t that he didn’t get Keith’s acknowledgement but he wasn’t even noticed. 

As they headed to the dining hall everyone else was already seated with food on their plates, Keith nodded to the group as they walked in. Lance thought to himself that maybe this was the time for things to change. He took his seat next to Keith and they ate side by side, as they would continue to do for the foreseeable future. It was a small step, but eventually the company of each other would grow to be a comfort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thinking about Lance having all those family issues and NOT getting any real bonding moments like, damn.


	4. Bonding

If you asked Keith he would’ve said this mission did not require the entire team. In specific it did not require him. Being planetside for the sole purpose of ass-kissing some of the most annoying aliens he’s ever met is far from something he’d enjoy.

He didn’t see the point of schmoozing with these people, if they don’t want to get destroyed by the Galra, teaming up with Voltron is literally their only practical choice. It always goes the same with at these meetings to, Allura and Coran deliver some formal treaty, Shiro gives an inspirational speech, and then they attend a stupid party.

To top it off he wasn’t even allowed to drink at these, Shiro was worried that any ‘celebratory beverages’ could lead to the paladins acting out. Allura gives them serious warnings to be on their best behavior before every event regardless of the fact their alliance has never been refused. 

As he broods over these thoughts some more, he lets his eyes wander the crowd. They’re currently spread out amongst the citizens in the courtyard of the Blorgon’s Royal Palace. Hunk is by the buffet table, talking to the chef. Most likely trying to get the recipes he used. Shiro and Allura are conversing with the King and his ambassadors. Coran seems to be entertaining the people with stories of great beasts and perilous journeys. Pidge isn’t too far off doing Quiznak knows what with a bunch of scrap metal on one of the fancy tables, her work’s caught the eye of quite a few curious inhabitants. He scans the dancefloor expecting to see Lance, only to be disappointed. It’s pretty rare for Lance not to take it upon himself to ‘grace the guests with his glorious dance skills’.

It’s not that he particularly cared where Lance was, except that he maybe definitely did. Which was something he was still getting used to. Recently he and Lance were actually getting along pretty well. They’ve been paired up in a lot more training exercises and battles because Shiro wants them to become better teammates and surprisingly, it’s been working. Their fighting styles are pretty complementary and Keith finds himself a little less annoyed and more genuinely entertained with Lance’s comedic interjections.

They haven’t had any big heart to heart moments but he likes to think they’ve progressed from the rivals phase. Lance goes out of his way to invite him to hang out with him, Hunk, and Pidge. There have even been moments where Lance elbows him in the side and whispers sarcastic comments in his ear which is something Keith’s witnessed him do with Hunk and Pidge, so at this point they’re basically definitely real friends.

And friends don’t let friends get lost on alien planets during lame diplomatic parties. With his mind made up Keith departs from his position in the corner, to look for Lance. He wanders around the crowd, sliding passed intermingling party-goers. He stops to ask Hunk and Pidge if either of them had seen Lance, but they were both too involved in their own conversations to notice him leave.

“He might be by the beach,” Hunk had told him, “The waters here looks just like Earth's oceans, he’s probably feeling nostalgic.” By the tone of Hunk’s voice he was probably feeling a bit nostalgic himself. Keith gave him his best sympathetic look and thanked him.

He left the party, careful to make sure he wouldn’t get caught by Allura or Shiro and have to listen to another speech on being both respectful and grateful during these diplomatic missions. Slipping away quickly, it didn’t take him very long to get to the beach. Hunk was right about the water, it looked just like a scene on a vacation brochure, the only difference being that the sand was a dark purple.

He scanned the area for any traces of Lance coming through here but any footprints were already long gone. He walked along the waterside listening to the gentle waves against the shore, trying to think of where else he might’ve gone. Lance could’ve returned to the castleship but that seemed highly unlikely, diplomatic missions like this were some of Lance’s favorites. It wasn’t a secret that Lance was an extrovert, he physically brightened under even the slightest of compliments, and the adoring crowds that come with these missions showered mountains of praise.

As he continued down the sand, he came upon a rocky outcrop overlooking the water. It was decently tall, but he could definitely make out a familiar silhouette sitting on top. Keith wasn’t exactly the most emotionally intelligent person, but the sight of Lance staring out over the calm waters was filled with such overwhelming sadness. He almost regretted coming out to find him because now it felt like he was intruding on a very personal moment, but they were friends now and he wouldn’t abandon his friend out here. 

He stepped a little closer, clearing his throat to announce his presence. Lance jumped a little and the sadness on his face quickly changed to surprise. 

“Keith? What are you doing out here?"

“I uh, I was looking for you actually,” Lance didn’t seem to have an immediate response to that and Keith took it as a sign to keep talking, “I noticed you weren’t at the party and Hunk said something about how you might be down by the water and y’know…” Keith let himself trail off as he waited for Lance to say something, he seemed deep in thought as he stared at Keith, maintaining a very neutral expression.

Keith shifted his weight from foot to foot, “So... mind if I join you up there?”

Lance allowed a smirk to grace his features at that, “Heh, couldn’t resist my awesome charms, Mullet? I understand the effect I can have on people-”

“Yeah, yeah. Hurry up and move your skinny ass over,” Climbing up the rocks Keith settled in besides Lance. They were close enough that Keith could feel the heat radiating off of Lance even if they weren’t actually touching. Lance returned his gaze to the sea but his posture had relaxed, Keith turned to look outward as well.

Lance shifted a bit, lightly bumping his knee against Keith’s,“So uh, why are you actually out here? Couldn’t find a nice enough place to brood in town?” 

“I wanted to see if you were okay,” As he spoke Keith turned to face Lance directly, “It’s pretty weird for you to be leaving a party early, shouldn’t you be in the center of the crowd like, grooving down or something?”

Lance let out a laugh at that and Keith felt his ears grow warm, “Aw Keithy-buddy, I didn’t realize you appreciated my dancing skills. Next time I’ll be sure to drag you out on the floor with me. Just imagine how impressed the ladies are gonna be with two studs of Voltron struttin’ their stuff.”

Keith couldn’t help but laugh at that, “Thanks for the offer, but I’m gonna have to pass. Now quit avoiding the question, any reason in particular you’re avoiding everyone?” Keith didn’t want to be pushy, but it was clear to him that Lance was feeling sad about something and he was determined to do something about it. His persistence must have been clear on his face because when Lance turned to respond he took a second to reconsider his words.

Lance directed his gaze back to the water, “Usually, talking to the people we save really helps me remember that what I’m doing out here is worth it. That I’m actually out here saving lives. But when I look out onto the ocean like this, I can’t help but remember everyone I left behind on Earth.”

There was a clear sadness present in his voice as he spoke, and Keith found himself unsure of how to respond. He shifted slightly, knocking their knees together gently and leaving them in contact. Hoping that the comfort he didn’t know how to express through words would be seen in his action.

Making no effort to separate their knees Lance continued to speak, “When I was younger I used to go to the beach all the time. Sometimes it’d be me and my family all playing in the water or having lunch on the sand, other times I would sneak out and run all the way down to the beach just so I could watch the waves. As I got older and I started working towards getting into the pilot program I stopped going. I needed to be working non-stop just to have a chance at getting in,” 

“My family was so supportive of me, they were constantly pushing me to do my best. Everyone knew how badly I wanted to get in. The day I got my acceptance letter was the happiest day of my life, we had this huge party on the beach to celebrate. My family was just as ecstatic as I was, we partied as though my send-off was that same night. And now…” Lance tilted his head downward and rested his face in his hands before speaking again.

“Now I’m out here, billions of miles away, partying while they all think I’m dead. I wanted them to be proud of me and to be able to share my successes with them, and I might never see them again. When we left Earth I was bottom of the class, I always thought of you as my rival and you didn’t even know who I was. They’re gonna think I died without ever accomplishing anything and I’m never gonna be able to tell them otherwise.”

His head fell as he spoke and Keith had a bit of an internal panic as he watched the tears build up in Lance’s eyes. Following his impulses, he leaned over and pulled Lance into a hug, it was a little rough and Lance stiffened at the contact before allowing himself to relax into it, letting his head fall onto Keith’s shoulder. 

“Lance, I promise you that your family is proud of you no matter what. It’s obvious from what you’ve said that they were proud to begin with. One day, together, all of us are going to go back to Earth and you're going to be able to tell your family all about the lives you’ve saved. Everyday you’re doing something heroic, and everyone here is proud of you.” 

Keith shifted putting his hands on Lance’s shoulders and pushing him back so their eyes aligned. “I’m proud of you Lance, you’ve come so far, and past me was an idiot for not noticing how hard you work.”

Lance buried his head into the crook of Keith’s neck, and Keith could feel the smile shift onto his face. As quick as the heat was there it was gone. All too quickly Lance sat back up, separated himself from Keith’s grasp, and wiped away the remnants of his tears. His eyes were red rimmed and on his face one of the most sincere smiles Keith had ever seen. Lance averted his eyes to stare into the horizon. He cleared his throat and placed his hand on Keith’s shoulder. 

“Thank you.”

With a small smile of his own, Keith covered Lance’s hand with his own before standing up. “Anytime, now how about we finally head back to the party. Who knows how long until the people notice their favorite stud is missing.”

Lance laughed and allowed himself to be pulled up, “You're absolutely right, it'd be cruel of me to deprive those good people of my presence for too long."

As the two walked back together exchanging laughs, Keith felt warmth bloom in his chest. He was glad he'd come out here, glad for the connection he'd made with Lance that evening. The warmth in his chest stayed with him long after their conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have a beta lol. As if that was not OBVIOUS


	5. Mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol this one kinda got away from me

Lance was absolutely freezing. He’d only been planetside for about 15 minutes, but the windchill was ridiculously strong. The air temperature was well below freezing and even though his suit was supposedly insulated enough to protect him from extreme conditions, it couldn’t block it all out. His job was pretty easy at least, he just had to drill some ice crystal cores and Coran could add some chic new upgrades to the castleship’s defenses. 

Everyone was out on their own similar scavenger missions for parts Coran could use. They were preparing for a pretty big siege on a Galran command ship and since Allura wanted the castle to be capable enough to stand in the fray with the paladins some upgrades were definitely required. Altean technology was already incredible but 10,000 years leaves room for a lot of advancement.

He couldn’t even use the comms to complain since the others were dealing with more sensitive (exciting) missions and might need to radio for assistance at a moment's notice. Shiro and Pidge were on a stealth mission, staking out a Galran transport unit. Meanwhile Hunk and Keith were literally on a planet of active volcanoes. The planet Lance got assigned to was an arctic wasteland. Unpopulated, unnamed, and completely fucking awful. He couldn’t even wait in blue since the drill could only be used by hand. So he stood there drilling out cores one by one filling up the cases provided by Coran for what felt like an eternity. 

Shivering, he pulled out another core from the drill. Lance thought that he would literally kill to be on a deadly volcano planet right now. “Okay Blue, open up. Got one more batch for ya.” Carefully shifting the core in his hands, he waited expectantly for her jaws to open. Nothing happened. “Uh Blue? Hello?” A nervous frown came over his face and he leaned over to set down the core.

“C’mon girl please? Open for Lancey-lance.” Placing his hand onto her he could still feel the connection, the reassurance that he wasn’t being rejected, but other than that… nothing. Pushing aside his momentary panic he radioed the castle, “Guys, I got a problem here.”

Allura responded with a huff, “Lance, if this is just more complaining-”

“No, no Princess this is serious. Blue won’t open.”

“What do you mean you won’t open? She won’t respond to you anymore?”

“The connection is still there but, I don’t know. She just feels cold, like she’s literally just frozen shut. I guess it’s less won’t open and more that she can’t.”

Lance could hear some movement on the other end of the comms followed by Allura’s panicked whispers to Coran about what to do. Lance waited anxiously, crouching down to look up at Blue. He rested his hand on the front of her paw. Even through his suit he could feel a strong chill emanating off her metal.

“Lance, my boy? Are you still there?”

Lance rolled his eyes, “Where could I possibly go, Coran?”

“Right well, if the blue lion is frozen shut then the solution is simply to warm it back up!”

“Great. How am I supposed to do that? Start a fire with the native flora? Oh wait, it’s all ice. I’m on an ice planet.” He gestured at the endless horizon regardless that they wouldn’t be able to see it.

“Now Lance no need to be so sour, we’ll simply send Keith and have the red lion heat melt the ice from the blue lion. It may be a bit straightforward but it’ll certainly be effective.”

“Ugh I guess, how long until he can get here? I’m already freezing my ass off and I haven’t even gotten all the cores yet.”

“Judging by the distance between the planets... And the fact the red lion is the fastest… I’d say just about 2 vargas. Can you make do for that long?”

“I don’t really have a choice.” He grumbled, standing up and readying the drill.

“Don't worry Lance, we’ll have Keith on his way as soon as possible.” The reassuring lilt in Allura’s voice didn’t really do much to calm Lance’s nerves. Blue locking him out was far too reminiscent of his insecurities on having a real place in the team. It didn’t bother him as much anymore, but it wasn’t like getting called sharpshooter once solved all his emotional issues. 

He shook his head and tried to focus solely on the drill going into the ice. Freezing his ass off with nothing but his own depressing thoughts was not something his self-esteem needed. He could hold out until Keith arrived, a couple vargas was basically nothing. Everybody else was out on their considerably more dangerous missions and he somehow managed to mess up collecting ice. 

When he tried to take out the new core he only just got it out before dropping it right onto the ice. He shook out his hands trying to return the feeling in them and looked down to the core rolling away, leaving small broken pieces in its wake. Grumbling to himself he readied the drill to get a new one. In his peripheral he could see all his previously collected cores waiting in their cases next to Blue, and he realized he was going to have to move them otherwise they’d just get melted when Keith used Red’s fire breath on her. Deflating, he let out a heavy sigh and moved to gather them in his shivering arms. This sucked.

It took about 45 minutes for him to excavate the rest of the cores he needed and move them all a safe distance away from Blue. It then took an extra 20 minutes to replace the ones he’d broken during that process. So basically, now Lance was freezing his ass off and bored as hell. He thought about making some tiny snowmen with the residue from drilling but his hands were shaking too much to do anything productive. Logically he knew that he should be moving around to try and get his body to produce more warmth but oh my god he was just so cold. 

Which is how he found himself in his current position- huddled into a tight little ball with his hands stuffed between his legs trying to retain warmth. His back leaned against Blue and her presence was honestly comforting. It wasn’t exactly comfortable but it was the best he could do.

“Just you and me girl,” Looking out onto the horizon, Lance found himself feeling even more disheartened, “As nice as it is to spend some one-on-one time with my special lady, I would much rather be stuck with someone who could talk.”

He could feel her presence in his mind become slightly insulted, and he laughed a bit. “Sorry, I do appreciate your presence but I mean,” He gestures into the air meaninglessly, “Y’know, there's only like. Wind and shit.”

Now it felt like Blue was laughing at him. “Hey, it’s not like I hear you bringing up any topics. Even Keith is a better conversationalist than you, and compared to the rest of the team talking with him can be like pulling teeth.” 

The response to that was akin to if Blue could raise her eyebrows and give him a very knowing look. Lance translated this in his own mind to be ‘I bet you would like to be stuck on an isolated planet with Keith’. Smothering his face into his legs the blood rushing to his face wasn’t enough to take away the chill in his bones, “Oh my god, shut up! I shouldn’t have brought him up. What do you even know about romance, huh? I’m not taking advice from a giant robot lion.”

Biting the inside of his cheek Lance knew he was being a little childish, but Blue’s light-hearted energy was nice. Not to mention he wasn’t exactly gonna talk to anyone else about this. It’d be so humiliating to admit that the guy he antagonized and pushed into becoming his rival is also the guy he’s like, in like with. (He wasn’t gonna say the actual L word, that’s a little too much to think about, even in his own mind). So yeah, some friendly teasing from Blue wasn’t too bad every once in a while. It’s a nice confirmation that he and Blue are connected too. Especially since it served to take his mind off waiting to get his ass saved. 

Sitting with Blue though, the two of them running through positive memories in his mind helped him feel warm on the inside at the very least. Actually now that he thought about it, he didn’t actually feel cold anymore. Flexing his fingers in front of him, he could hardly feel the movement. He could radio the castle and say something to Coran and Allura but that wouldn’t really serve any purpose other than embarrassing him further for getting sick from such a simple mission. There wasn’t much to do other than wait for Keith to arrive, he could just jump into a healing pod when he’s back at the castle.

Luckily, he didn’t have to wait much longer for an update from Keith. 

“Lance, I’m almost at your coordinates. How’re you holding up?”

“Other than turning into a living icicle, I’m doing just great. Me and Blue have been trading some hot goss, you really missed out.”

“Oh, yeah? Care to share these enriching details from a conversation had with a mute Lion?”

“Sorry Hotshot, you had to be there. Honestly, our conversation was in a class of its own, there’s drama, comedy, tragedy.”

“Too bad, that sounds exciting. Guess you wouldn’t want to hear the stories I heard from Hunk about a certain someone’s childhood escapades. There was definitely some comedy in those.”

Lance blanched thinking of all the incredibly embarrassing knowledge Hunk had on him, “Haha, couldn’t be me. I was the coolest as a kid, always on badass adventures and rescuing the babes.”

Red came into view in the cloudless sky, smoothly making his way over. Keith hummed a bit before responding, “Hmm… I seem to recall something about you bursting into tears because after blowing out your birthday candles because you killed the birthday magic-”

“I was four! That is totally out of context too-”

“And a separate incident where you ended up hugging a jellyfish because it looked lonely.”

“He was lonely! He totally wrapped his tentacles around me, and he barely even stung me!”

Keith was outright laughing at him at this point, “Okay, I’m in position. Are you a safe distance away?”

“Yeah, let it rip hotshot. When you're done get down here and help me move all these cases.” 

Keith made quick work of melting the ice off of Blue, even from the distance Lance could see the heat emanating off of her, distorting the air above her. Lance flexed his hands again, eager to get warm again. Keith finished dousing her in flames and and landed Red a short distance away, there was a slight rumble on the ice but Lance didn’t pay it any mind. 

He was rushing over too Blue with a case in his arms. Blue shifted, moving to prepare for him to run inside, and Lance smiled wide at the sight. He could see Keith coming out of his lion, making his way over to the remaining cases without fuss.

The air near Blue was still hot, “Blue I have never been more happy to-” Lance’s sentence was cut off by a deafening crack from the ice. Immediately they both stopped moving, Lance looked down to see a series of rifts forming in the ice where his foot touched the ground. Thinking quickly, he took in the situation The ice was definitely going to break under him if he stayed still much longer. He was about 15 feet from Blue and Keith was a safe distance away. 

He looked over, looking directly into Keith’s eyes. By the time Keith started speaking it was already too late. 

“LANCE!”

One second he’s running forward, safety a literal few feet away and then he’s falling. There’s no water under the ice, it’s a cold abyss and he doesn’t even have time to let out a scream before he’s in the darkness. His suit’s eroding away as he digs his hands and feet into the ice to slow his descent and he pushes harder into the walls despite the pain.

Keith’s yelling into ears through the comms but all Lance can hear is his own heartbeat. He’s scrambling for anything to hold onto but he barely has any feeling in his limbs and it’s really hurting him here. By the time he stops falling it feels like he’s shredded off his fingertips and his body won’t stop shaking. His voice is weak and underlined with panic, “Keith? I uh, I’m in a bit of a situation here.” 

“Lance, stay calm, I’m gonna get you out of there. Just- just don’t panic. I’m gonna get some rope, I’m gonna get you.” He didn’t have to see Keith’s face to be able to picture the sheer panic etched into his features.

Letting out an unsteady breath Lance tried to calm himself, “Yeah ok, don’t panic, don’t panic. This is fine, totally okay.” 

He could totally do this Keith was getting some rope and gonna be back in a flash. The fall wasn’t even that bad, he was only like 30 feet down, how much deeper could it be? Looking down into the crevice was definitely a mistake. It was pitch black and God, it seemed to go on forever. All the sweat on his body felt like ice, he was trembling so much.

“Keith! No pressure bud, but uh, please hurry.” He could feel his voice breaking but didn’t have the energy to care.

“I’m almost there Lance just hold on! I’m gonna be right there and you’re gonna be fine.” 

Somehow Keith managed to sound just as stressed as Lance felt. He could hear him in the comms cursing to himself over and over. Which wasn’t really comforting, but at least he knew Keith was hauling ass to save him. 

Lance could feel himself starting to slide again and felt like bursting into tears. The pain was burning, he could feel his muscles starting to spasm under the stress. Dying on some miserable frozen planet on a stupid solo mission was not the way he wanted to go.

“Lance! I’m lowering a rope, I just need you to grab it and I’ll pull you up. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Seconds after Keith spoke the rope was before Lance’s eyes. He forced his feet further into the ice, praying they’d give him enough stability to grab the rope, and in the next second he was clutching onto the rope with his life in Keith’s hands. 

Keith was pulling him up quickly but each second felt like an eternity. With every tug Lance was getting more and more lightheaded. The moment he was within Keith’s reach he was firmly pulled straight into his arms. They both toppled backwards, Keith’s arms firmly around Lance’s torso, cushioning his fall onto the ice.

“Lance! Oh my God, never do that to me again. Holy fuck that was awful!”

The arms around him tightened and Lance could barely even bring himself to speak. He moved his own trembling arms around Keith's sides and let himself go slack. They laid there for another few moments, until Lance felt his adrenaline rush drift away and all that was left was the aching pain in his body.

“Hey Keith, not to ruin the moment or anything, but uh. I’m so fucking cold right now.”

“Oh shit right,” Keith moved them into a sitting position and once again, Lance found himself in his embrace, “Um, can you stand?”

“Honestly, I don’t think so. Allura said these suits were super insulated but I’m definitely getting hypothermia.”

“Okay fuck that’s bad, we gotta get you back to the castle. I’m gonna fly you back in Red, you need a healing pod.”

“Wait no hold on, I can’t leave Blue here. What if something happened? She could fall through the cracks or someone could come take her.”

Keith gave him a firm look, “Lance you’re shivering really bad, I don’t know if it’s a good idea to keep you away from a healing pod longer than necessary.”

“Please Keith, I can’t just leave her here. I just need to warm up a bit and I’ll be fine,” He gave Keith his best puppy dog eyes and could see him beginning to break. “I’ll go in the healing pod the instant we land.”

He blinked a few extra times for good measure, and tightened his grip around Keith. It didn’t take long for Keith to let out a small huff, “Fine, but we’re waiting in Red until you’re ready to leave.”

Lance gave him a bright smile and practically chirped his thanks. Keith made easy work of standing up, holding Lance in a princess carry. Normally Lance would’ve made a bigger show of embarrassment at this, but he was just so tired and it’s not like anyone was around to see.  
He’d let himself be vulnerable with Keith in the past and surprisingly the guy was genuinely caring. He didn’t always have the best way with words but Lance could appreciate his efforts nonetheless. He let himself rest his head against Keith and curl further into the hold trying to feel his warmth even through the suits.

It was nice, this weird friendship they’d found themselves in. Lance knew that he would love to experience this treatment under better circumstances. To be able to jump into Keith’s arms at any moment and know he’d be received with a wide smile. As he peered up at Keith’s face through the helmets, all he could see was the concern that clouded it.

Lance made an effort to try and keep from enjoying this too much. Keith was being a good friend to him and he had to go and dirty it by having feelings. By the time he’d gotten through his internal struggle they were already in Red’s cockpit, and Keith was gently setting him down. 

He took off his helmet and relished the warmth of the air. He could still feel the cold sweat sticking to his skin and he desperately wished to be in a hot shower and clear his mind.

“Lance are you sure you’re okay? You’re being awfully quiet.” Keith asked, taking off his own helmet and crouching down in front of him.

“Sorry man, just processing my newest near death experience. Shiro’s never gonna trust me on missions alone after this. Like, who manages to screw up a mission gathering ice?”

“It’s not your fault, nobody could’ve known your lion would freeze shut. Besides, it was Red’s fire that weakened the ice,” Casting his eyes down his voice fell, “If anyone’s at fault here it’d be me, I almost killed you.”

Seeing the guilt and sadness on Keith’s face, made the moment feel even more vulnerable. Lance reached over putting his hand on Keith’s shoulder and let their eyes meet. 

“You saved me, Keith. If it weren’t for you I’d be… I’d have died,” His grip loosened, “So, don’t look so guilty. I’m supposed to be the resident screw-up around here, you’re not allowed to steal my thunder on that too.”

Lance smiled, hoping that his efforts to lighten the mood worked. Mercifully, Keith smiled back at him and moved to sit next to him.  
“So, did Hunk tell you any other stories I should know about?”

Keith laughed, and Lance let him lead the conversation from there. They talked together until the feeling had returned to Lance’s body, and a little longer just to be sure. Keith helped retrieve the remaining cases of the ice cores, and when Lance was returned to Blue she welcomed him happily.

The red and blue lions returned to the castle alongside each other. Fortunately, Coran said he could manage with the ice cores Lance did manage to retrieve. Keith stuck to Lance’s side until the minute he was in the pod, and if Hunk gave a few curious stares at their close proximity they were both too preoccupied to notice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tell me if there are mistakes PLEASE.. i will fix them

**Author's Note:**

> It's gonna be like a billion short chapters because I wanna post the scenes as I write them.


End file.
